Category: Political philosophy

It seems so

counter-intuitive, yet it is SO pervasive! So why? These guys chuck homosexuals off rooftops and yet the Left LOVES them and defends them? Why do western Leftists love them so? I mean, Muslims usually have no love for them and would immediately toss them off rooftops if they could! So why?

It is a complicated story. But one key part of that story is the way that civil rights, which began as a cause, became an ideology. Eventually that ideology metastasized into “anti-racism,” a radical legal doctrine that scholar John McWhorter suggests is nothing less than a secular “religion.”

I think that is pretty much correct. The Left freely engages in a modern-day pseudo-religious Manicheanism, a black-and-white style of thinking, where ALL who don’t agree with them are seen as…. threatening heretics. Leftists are, at heart, religious extremists.

In other words, for a Leftist, disagreement with them is itself proof of being “bad” and wrong and evil. And they must be rigid and vigilant and even extreme or the “evil” Conservatives might overcome the “righteous” Leftists! And no act is morally wrong or too extreme when implemented in the service of stamping out these dangerous wrong and heretical ideas. Manicheanism.

A Conservative may see a Leftist as being wrong, but not necessarily evil (though of course some are)–the only real arbiter of right and wrong is data, a historical empiricism, if you will. In general, though, Conservatism is pretty darn live-and-let-live.

But for a Leftist, they may (may) casually admit that throwing gays off rooftops is, uh, problematic, but those on the Right who openly disagree with them are evil heretics who are threats and who must be destroyed! Of course, they face no imminent threat of being thrown off a rooftop. At least not right now. THAT is the “cheap grace” of American Leftism!

We’ve seen the progression of Leftism. It started as a cause. Then it grew into an ideology. And then it metastasized into a secular religion, complete with doctrine, heretics, absolution, indulgences, and a “priestly” class. And THAT is where we are now…

Lefty Culture Political philosophy

Leftists are

getting a bit restless. Skittish, even. As well they should.

It’s pretty dang clear: Trump looks vigorous and capable. Biden looks like death warmed over. He looks to be held together with hope, crossed fingers, and bailing twine. And Trump’s policies were certainly FAR better for regular people than Biden’s

The contrast could not be clearer: Leftism leads to misery while Conservatism leads to peace and plenty. In fact, this is perhaps the most devastating comparison: It is quite clear now that Leftism leads to human misery while Conservative practices lead to prosperity and happiness. The data are in. Will YOU blithely dismiss these facts?

See, Leftists could ignore the incontrovertible fact that the USSR was an economic basket case– lots of excuses about how it was not real Communism and such. Poppycock! I think we should take a hard look at the facts. Leftism has never worked! Never.

We should look at the very clear results! It’s not really arguable–the data are in. Now it’s true that hard Leftists are famously more tightly and even rigidly tied to their ideology than to empirical evidence. But is it even possible to dispute it now?

The best argument by a Leftist I have heard is: “The economy is cyclical, and it just happened that this ‘down’ time fell under a hard Left President.”

Yes, yes, but it always happens this way! It is clearly more than just a coincidence. When I lose 100 times out of 100, maybe it isn’t just chance. In scientific (or statistical) terms, this is a non-random finding. Something is going on, here!

Political philosophy

The hard truth is

Democrats are just not very religious. They are not, as a group, very tolerant of religion, either.

If you SAY you’re both religious AND a Democrat, think VERY carefully. THAT would be a very strange looking duck! Those two things no longer go very well together. 50 years ago? Sure, that could work. But now? Not really…

Political philosophy

Just know

your political intellectual history. That way you don’t get bamboozled by folks who are either a) ignorant as crap, or b) totally malicious.

Political philosophy

Indeed,

what happened?

Well, to be brief about it, Leftism happened. Indeed, this is what eventually happens with ALL Leftism!

As a historical empiricist, this is hardly shocking. We’ve seen it many times before. Just in relatively modern history, look what happened to the former USSR. Look at Cambodia. Even the European North Countries have greatly scaled back their Leftism!

Look further back, to revolutionary France. Guys, this stuff just doesn’t work!

It reminds me of a time when I was in grad school and a friend REALLY got into Carl Rogers, reading all his books and such. He excitedly talked to a private practice psychologist he was around about how wonderful it all is.

The private practice guy responded, “Yeah, it’s really cool. It don’t work.”

And I think that a historical empiricist looks at Leftism and it’s history and says, “Yeah, it’s really cool. It don’t work.”

Political philosophy

It’s not

really very surprising. Most traditional,”manly” men are conservative. And it’s simply no surprise to anyone who is even slightly paying attention.

Change Political philosophy

Heaven knows

I would very much like it if that were the case. And there are some good hints that it is. But only hints at present.

.@BillMaher: "Murders have been happening in Chicago among the African American community for far too long and not really reported in the way they should be. It's amazing how black lives don't seem to matter when they are taken by black lives."@JoeRogan: "Austin defunded the… pic.twitter.com/HZS5vgcKRy
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) September 2, 2023

This is Joe Rogan and Bill Maher, people. Joe Rogan and Bill Maher bashing woke liberal policies and their destructive consequences.

… We are seeing a hard-right shift in American culture. People are fed up with the fairy dust madness and are slowly becoming less afraid to say so. The Rainbow Mafia and race-baiting cultists who lulled people into a weird acid-trip-like trance for the past decade are losing their power over the sedated masses.

Yes, the article says what I want to hear. And for THAT reason I am VERY wary! See, the Left thinks that if someone says something they like, it is for sure true. For them, that an idea fits with their pre-judged notions is ipso facto proof of veracity!

But as a Conservative, I don’t have that problem. I know people can be mistaken. I know people actually lie at times! So I want to see actual evidence. So don’t blow smoke, show me the money!

Political philosophy

For Lefties,

steps need to be taken. And fast!

Epistemology Political philosophy

It totally bears

repeating:

Modern Liberalism is firmly rooted in the Continental rationalism vein. ALL people come to know truth or right and wrong through sitting down and thinking about it. Moral truths either don’t exist (Post-Modernism) or are revealed mainly by a person’s independent reasoning. Thought is even what proves existence–as Descartes famously said, I think, therefore, I am.

Empiricists think that is pure fantasy—narcissistic delusion, even. People from different backgrounds and experiences and even languages just aren’t going to have the same thought processes and come to the same conclusions. They believe that reason alone is flawed and unreliable—and it is subject to change, styles, and even decay.

THEREFORE, the way to moral and political truths is through the empirical data of human experience and NOT mainly through mere reason and thought (this is British Empiricism). The issue is not what should be true or what “makes sense,” but what has been actually observed. We need trial and error over long periods of time. And this makes Conservatives fundamentally skeptical of ALL knowledge claims—even their own.

This is the difference between a Rationalist theory and an Empirical one (or Leftist vs Rightist): The Rationalist/Leftist sees in politics and morals a realm in which an endless variety of theories compete with one another for social power—without any being rooted in observable experience (or Truth, for that matter). The “measure” is what sounds good and makes sense to you. Today.

Empiricists/Rightists rely less on what should theoretically be true, and more on what has been demonstrated historically to be true. As was famously argued by sir Francis Bacon, we ought not to rely on reason to know tell us how many teeth a horse has–just open the horse’s mouth and count them!

In other words, Conservatives rely mainly on historical empiricism, not mere ratiocination.

Does that solve all problems of knowledge? LOL, no! But it does explain things pretty well.

Political philosophy

Velkom, komrade!

Velkom to zee Pleasure Dome! The Left VERY selectively believes in civil rights!

You can try to say, “I keed, I keed! but the FACT is that the Left very famously has no sense of humor at all (see: the former East Germany).